Asbestos release from battery boxes

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos release from battery boxes, by M. Greenberg (The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 1970).

The study

• Author: M. Greenberg
• Journal: The Annals of Occupational Hygiene
• Published: 1970;13(1):79-80
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 004041).

In plain English

This item is a short letter to the editor, not a formal study. The author, a Medical Inspector of Factories with HM Factory Inspectorate, described the manufacture of battery boxes, which were made by mixing crocidolite with bitumen or pitch and moulding it. Excess pieces, called flashings, were removed by filing and could then be trampled underfoot. The letter noted a view that asbestos bound into a plastic base might release only coated fibres of low toxicity. When crushed material from the floor was examined by polarised light microscopy, free asbestos fibres were seen. Air sampling detected no asbestos fibres at the operator's nose level, but 0.5 fibre per cubic centimetre was measured 10 to 12 inches above the flashing-removal operation. The letter did not give numbers of workplaces, workers or samples, and reported no health outcomes. The author concluded that these observations suggest there may be other operations with an unsuspected but significant exposure to asbestos fibres.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: letter to the editor describing workplace observations and air measurements
• Who was studied: battery box manufacturing, specifically removal of moulded excess pieces (flashings) by filing; no numbers of workplaces, workers or samples given, and no specific location beyond the UK Factory Inspectorate's involvement
• Exposure: crocidolite mixed with bitumen or pitch and moulded into battery boxes; filing off flashings, with waste trampled underfoot
• Main results:
  • Polarised light microscopy of crushed material from the floor showed free asbestos fibres
  • Air analysis detected no asbestos fibres at the operator's nose level
  • 0.5 fibre per cubic centimetre was measured 10 to 12 inches above the flashing-removal operation (unit garbled in the scan)
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the observations suggest there may be other operations with an unsuspected but significant exposure to asbestos fibres

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Battery Box.

Related studies

• Control of the use of asbestos-containing friction materials — M.L. Bentley (1970)
• Reginald Tage: a UK asbestos prophet--a postscript — M. Greenberg (1993)
• Classical syndromes in occupational medicine: the Montague Murray case — M. Greenberg (1982)
• A study of airborne chrysotile concentrations associated with handling, unpacking, and repacking boxes of automobile clutch discs — G.C. Jiang, A.K. Madl, et al. (2008)
• Exposure to chrysotile asbestos associated with unpacking and repacking boxes of automobile brake pads and shoes — A.K. Madl, L.L. Scott, et al. (2008)
• Ethnic differences in lung function: evidence for proportional differences — C.E. Rossiter, H. Weill (1974)

Browse more research in The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, or return to medical research.